Masquerade
by pingo1387
Summary: AU. Two men vow to take revenge for their fathers' deaths. Friends by day and enemies by night—who will come out the victor?
1. I'm Going to Kill Him

**Wow, welcome to my 50th story on this site! I honestly had another story in mind for the 50th, but it's taking way too long to write.**

 **Anyway, Luffy and Usopp are pretty OOC in this, so I'm sorry about that. It's aaaall for the plot.**

* * *

"What?"

Luffy Monkey, ten years old, stared at his older brother in shock.

"Dad's . . . dead?" he whispered.

Ace nodded, biting his lip and trying not to cry in front of his little brother.

Luffy, on the other hand, had never had any problem with crying, and began to bawl.

* * *

"Come on . . . what kinda joke is this, Klahadore . . . ?"

Usopp Syrup, ten years old, stared at the butler in shock.

He laughed nervously. "You came all the way to our little shack, this late . . . for a prank . . . ?"

Klahadore looked down. "Usopp . . ."

"Come on, Klahadore . . ."

Usopp began to cry.

* * *

The next morning, Luffy stumbled down the hall, his eyes red from crying the previous night. Ace, sitting at the table, saw him coming and quickly wiped away his own tears.

Luffy jumped on his older brother and hugged him tightly. Ace embraced him back and they remained like this for a moment.

"How . . . did it happen?" Luffy asked, sitting childishly on Ace's lap as he pulled away. He sniffled again. "It wasn't . . . Yasopp . . . ?"

"Dunno," Ace mumbled. "The hospital didn't say. But . . ."

He laid out that morning's newspaper on the table and flipped through the pages until he found the article of interest.

"See, it doesn't say how it happened," he said, skimming the article and gulping back tears. "It j-just says . . . that they both died in their f-final fight."

Luffy hugged Ace again. Then he frowned and skimmed the bottom of the article.

"Ace?" he said slowly. "It says here . . ."

* * *

Usopp came down the huge stairs slowly. He had spent the night in Kaya's mansion—his best friend and the wealthy heiress to her parents' fortune. He found Kaya herself waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs.

"Usopp?" she said quietly. "I'm sorry . . . about your dad . . ."

Usopp's lip trembled and his face screwed up again. Kaya hugged him and allowed him to cry on her shoulder for a bit.

"I-I'm fine," Usopp mumbled, wiping away his tears and pulling away. "Men d-don't cry."

"Well, maybe it's okay not to be a man once in a while," Kaya said gently.

She brought him to the dining room, where Klahadore was starting on breakfast.

"How did . . . how did it happen?" Usopp asked, sitting next to Kaya at the table. "W-Was it—Dragon?"

Kaya shook her head helplessly. "I don't know . . ." her eyes filled with tears too. "He was so nice . . . I can't believe he's gone . . ."

"There's an article about it in the paper," Klahadore said, looking back at the children.

They looked at each other and seized the paper as one. Flipping through it, Usopp found the article they wanted and they skimmed it.

"So . . . no one knows for sure how it happened," Kaya whispered.

Usopp frowned and pointed at the bottom of the article.

"Hey," he murmured. "It says here . . ."

* * *

". . . that Yasopp has a son," Luffy said softly.

"So it does," Ace said. "Poor kid."

He glanced at his little brother, whose face was suddenly filled with anger.

"Luffy, what's up?"

* * *

". . . that Dragon . . . has a son?" Usopp said.

"Oh," Kaya said softly.

She looked at Usopp, who suddenly had the burning anger of the wronged written on his face.

"Usopp . . . ?"

"Let's go upstairs," Usopp whispered. He and Kaya went upstairs, Kaya glancing back at Klahadore, who chose to ignore them.

* * *

"I'm going to kill him."

Ace stared at Luffy. " _What?!_ "

Luffy clenched his jaw. "I'm gonna kill Yasopp's son."

"Luffy, calm down," Ace said quickly. "There's no need for—"

Luffy looked up at Ace, who flinched at the sudden glare of an adult on his little brother's face. "I wanna kill Yasopp!" he yelled. "But Yasopp's dead, and his son's still alive! I-I'm gonna do what dad did—a-and I'm gonna k-kill Yasopp's son!"

"Luffy," Ace said angrily as his little brother jumped off of his lap, "think about this. Yasopp's son has nothing to do with this, doesn't he?"

"But what if he comes after me first?" Luffy demanded. "What if he decides to kill me?"

"Then—"

"I need to kill him first to get revenge for dad," Luffy said, not looking at Ace. "I dunno how I'm gonna find him, but I'm gonna do it."

* * *

"I want to kill him."

Kaya stared at Usopp in horror. " _What?_ "

Usopp paced the room with his hands behind his back. "I'm gonna kill Dragon's son."

"B-But—why?" Kaya asked, bewildered.

Usopp clenched his jaw and folded his arms. "Because I can't kill Dragon now that he's dead," he said coldly. "So I have to kill his son instead for revenge for _m-my_ dad."

"Usopp, please," Kaya cried. "I hate fighting! Please don't kill him!"

"There won't even need to be a fight," Usopp said resolutely. "I'll kill him with one shot, no problem."

Kaya's eyes filled with tears. "Usopp . . . what's happening to you . . . ?"

"I just need to find him and get revenge when I'm ready," Usopp said. He looked at Kaya and blinked, dropping to his knees and crawling over to her. "W-Wait, Kaya, please don't cry!"

"I don't want anyone to die," Kaya sobbed. "A-And I don't want you to get hurt!"

"Kaya," Usopp said, his eyes filling with tears as well. "I—I'm sorry—but I gotta do this. I feel like I gotta do this."

Kaya turned away from him angrily. "I don't wanna talk to you."

Usopp stayed by her side anyway. Neither of them said a word.


	2. I Made a Friend

_Seven years later_

"Luffy, you at it again?"

Luffy looked up. He and Ace had moved in with Sabo, their closest friend, and his parents shortly after their father's death. Ace and Sabo were roommates at college now and the dorm super had been kind enough to let Luffy stay with them, despite that he'd dropped out of high school. Sabo was practically their brother, too.

"At what?" Luffy asked.

Sabo sighed and tapped his pen against the desk. "Pacing."

"Oh. Well . . . yeah, guess I am," Luffy mumbled.

"Don't tell me you're thinking about Yasopp's son again," Ace sighed from his bed. He'd been ready for a nap before Sabo spoke up about Luffy.

Luffy clenched his fists. "I wasn't until now."

Sabo rolled his eyes over at Ace. "Look what you did."

"Oh, come on, he was bound to do it eventually," Ace pointed out. "Luffy, you need to get a hobby. You're obsessed with that kid."

"I _do_ have hobbies, and I'm _not_ possessed!" Luffy protested.

"Obsessed," Sabo corrected absently, scribbling in the margins of his paper to try to revive the ink cartridge.

"Hobbies like what?" Ace asked, lazily rolling onto his stomach.

"Sleeping and eating," Luffy said promptly.

Sabo and Ace groaned.

"Luffy, it's not a hobby if you need it to live," Ace reminded him.

"I tried to learn guitar once," Luffy remembered. "But . . ."

"You got bored and gave up," Sabo completed, not even looking up from his paper this time.

"The strings wouldn't do what I wanted them to do," Luffy complained.

"At least get a job," Ace said. "Help us pay for this."

"I've tried, but no one wants me," Luffy complained.

"Try harder," Sabo said, writing something down.

"How is he supposed to do that?" Ace demanded. "I mean, if they reject you, that's it, so unless you're talking about putting more pressure on the paper while you're writing—"

"Never mind," Sabo said, looking up. "Seriously, Luffy, it's not healthy to obsess about revenge so much. You need something else to occupy yourself. We've got plenty of books—"

"I don't wanna read!" Luffy yelled. "You guys just don't understand!"

He put on his sandals and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

Ace and Sabo sighed.

"He used to be so happy," Ace murmured. "I'd do anything to see that sparkle in his eyes again."

Sabo nodded. "Poor kid."

* * *

"Quiz me," Kaya said, handing Usopp her flashcards.

"Uh, right—" Usopp fumbled for a moment but caught the cards and held them up. "Chemical composition for, uh, water?"

"H2O," Kaya said immediately. "Come on, everyone knows that one."

Usopp had lived with Kaya and Klahadore since his father's death. He and Kaya attended high school together—Kaya was an aspiring doctor and Usopp was aiming to be an artist. They were practically siblings.

"For . . . whatever this is?" Usopp continued.

"Sugar," Kaya said. "C12H22O11."

"Sweet," Usopp said absentmindedly. "This one?"

"C10H12N2O."

"This one?"

"NaHCO3."

After a while Usopp put away the cards and said, "You're good! You got all of them!"

Kaya smiled. "Thanks for helping, Usopp."

"Oh, it's no big deal," Usopp said. "I mean, I wasn't busy anyway . . ."

Kaya's smile faded.

"Usopp . . . you aren't still thinking about . . . revenge on Dragon's son, are you?"

Usopp's smile faded as well. He didn't answer, but Kaya seemed to take it as a response anyway.

"Usopp, it's been so long," she said desperately. "Can't you just let it go?"

Usopp glared at her and she flinched.

"Sorry," he said, his expression softening. "But I _can't_ , Kaya. Besides, I'm all ready."

He went to his bed (for they were in his room) and pulled out a shoebox from under the bed. He opened up the lid; Kaya looked inside and gasped.

"I've had this for years," Usopp said, taking out the handgun gently. A silencer was left behind in the box. "It was dad's. I found it in our house before the other stuff was cleared out."

Kaya stared at the gun in horror.

"You aren't gonna tell Klahadore, are you?" Usopp suddenly asked, looking at her in worry.

Kaya hesitated, then shook her head. "No . . . no, of course not."

"Good," Usopp said in relief, replacing the gun gently and closing the box.

He looked up and was startled to see that her eyes were filled with tears.

"Kaya?"

"I don't want you to do this," she sobbed quietly, trying to wipe away tears. "I hate—violence—and fighting—"

"I-It's not like I'm gonna drag him here when we fight," Usopp said quickly, trying to reassure her. "We'll be way out of your way—"

"I don't want you to get hurt no matter what!" she cried.

Usopp looked down. As usual, no more on the matter was said—both knew that the other would refuse to give up their position on the matter.

"I'm gonna go on a walk," Usopp said quietly, standing. "I'll be back soon."

He left the room.

Kaya wiped away the last of her tears and whispered, "When will you be happy again . . . ?"

* * *

"Stupid Ace," Luffy mumbled under his breath as he walked down the street. "Stupid Sabo . . . they don't get it."

He kicked a rock and muttered, "I'm gonna find him somehow."

He sharply rounded the corner and promptly bumped into someone. They both fell down.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" the other person exclaimed. He had a long nose, tan skin under his overalls, and dark hair.

"Oh, sorry," Luffy said in surprise. He jumped up, dusted himself off, and helped up the stranger. "I had something on my mind."

The stranger sighed. "Me, too . . . maybe we both weren't looking where we were going. Sorry."

Luffy grinned. "I'm Luffy. Who're you?"

"Usopp."

They shook hands.

"You live around here?" Luffy asked as they began walking together—it just felt natural.

"Yeah, not too far from here," Usopp said. "You?"

"I stay in my brothers' dorm at the U," Luffy said, looking back in the general direction of his residence. "I don't go there, though."

"Brothers?"

"Ace and Sabo," Luffy said. "Well—Sabo's family sort of adopted me and Ace a while ago, and Ace was adopted a little before da—anyway, we're not legally related."

"I live with my best friend and her butler," Usopp admitted. "She's kinda like my sister."

"Butler?" Luffy asked in surprise. "Is it a mansion or something? That's really cool!"

Usopp laughed nervously. "Yeah, it's a pretty big place for just the three of us . . ."

"What do you like to do?" Luffy asked cheerfully.

"I love drawing," Usopp said, his eyes briefly lighting up. "What about you?"

Luffy frowned, remembering his earlier conversation with Ace and Sabo. "I don't have a lot of hobbies, besides sleeping and eating."

Usopp laughed. "Those don't count!"

Luffy frowned again. "Fine, then, I don't have any hobbies."

Usopp went silent. Luffy seemed a bit touchy about this.

"Sorry," he mumbled after a moment.

"It's fine," Luffy said quickly.

* * *

They ended up walking around in circles for a good two hours before they realized it. The sun was setting by this time.

"Ah, I should go back to the dorm," Luffy said. He grinned. "Nice meeting you!"

"Y-Yeah, same," Usopp said, smiling. "See you around?"

"Yeah! Bye!"

They waved farewell and departed.

* * *

"Hey," Ace said as Luffy got back. He smiled. "You look happy."

"I made a friend," Luffy said, grinning.

"About time," Sabo said. "What's their name?"

"Usopp! He's awesome, and he likes to draw," Luffy said.

"Good for you," Ace said approvingly. "Get your coat on, we're going out to dinner."

* * *

"Hi, Usopp," Kaya said as Usopp sat at his place at the table for dinner. "How was your walk?"

She had calmed down from earlier, but it was clear she was still upset.

"I made a friend," Usopp admitted as Klahadore served up the meal.

"Really?" Kaya exclaimed. "That's wonderful! Who're they?"

"His name's Luffy," Usopp said. "He's really friendly, and apparently he loves food."

Kaya smiled. "That's great. I hope you two can hang out more."

"Yeah," Usopp said happily.

* * *

 _One week later_

"Bye, Usopp!"

Usopp left down the hall as Luffy shut the door. It was Saturday, and Luffy had invited Usopp over to the dorm to meet his brothers and hang out.

"He's a good kid," Ace said in approval.

"Yeah," Luffy said cheerfully. He suddenly looked surprised. "Oh, I just remembered, I forgot to read the comics this morning . . ."

"Here," Sabo said, tossing the local section to Luffy. He caught it and opened it up. As he started reading, a personal ad on the opposite page caught his eye.

His expression darkened and he clenched his fists.

"Lu, what's up?" Ace said, looking at him in alarm.

"It's _him_ ," Luffy said angrily. "He finally showed himself."

He showed his brothers the paper, pointing to the ad. It was a simple block of text, bolded letters, a battle cry:

 ** _To Dragon's son  
_** ** _Meet me on the edge of town by the convenience store. We will settle our differences there. Sunday, 9 PM.  
_** ** _—_** ** _Yasopp's son_**

"Oh, man," Sabo breathed. "Luffy—"

"I'm going," Luffy said firmly.

"Lu—"

"I'm GOING!"


	3. We Finally Meet

_Sunday_

"Luffy, please don't go," Sabo pleaded. He was sitting at his desk and staring at Luffy worriedly with Ace. Luffy was putting on a bizarre outfit: A skin-tight black long-sleeve, dark yoga pants, and dark sneakers.

"I told you, I'm _going_ ," Luffy snapped.

"What's with that getup?" Ace asked, curious despite himself. "Are you a superhero or something?"

"No," Luffy said. He brought out a mask and put it over his head, leaving only his jaw exposed. "I'm not a hero. But for this, I need to be dad's hero, and this is what heroes dress like."

"You look more like the villain," Sabo remarked.

"No," Luffy said. "Yasopp's son is the villain."

"Aren't you the villain to him?"

"Maybe. But everyone's the hero of their own story, and this is _my_ story."

He ran out the door before Ace or Sabo could stop him.

"God _damn_ that kid," Ace sighed. "I hope he'll be okay."

"That was a weirdly insightful thing to say," Sabo mused.

"He read too many comics when he was little."

* * *

"Usopp . . . there's nothing I can do to stop you?"

"No," Usopp said bluntly as he tied red cloth around his neck to act as a cape. "Sorry."

He had explained the situation earlier, how he had put an ad in the paper and was going to the spot to meet with Dragon's son, should the man actually show up.

Kaya bit her lip angrily. "Well, at least tell me what's with that ridiculous getup."

Usopp had a red cape over a pair of overalls and boots he rarely wore. His satchel was around his shoulder. As he attached the silencer to the handgun and stowed it inside, he said, "I don't want Dragon's son finding me on the streets. This is my secret identity."

Kaya clenched her hands in her lap as Usopp brought out a Venetian-style mask, a gaudy yellow-and-blue thing with a hole for his long nose and two for his eyes.

"I'm off," Usopp said. "Don't wait up."

"Usopp . . ."

Usopp turned and glanced back at her, his expression hidden by his mask.

"Please . . . be careful."

Usopp nodded and left. Kaya began to cry.

* * *

"Tch . . . he's late."

The long-nosed masked man tapped his foot impatiently as he waited in the chosen spot.

"Maybe the coward got scared," he mused aloud.

"Don't bet on it."

Another masked man stepped around the corner, his features and body concealed by tight black clothing.

"So, it's you," the long-nosed man said in a deep disguised voice.

"We finally meet," the other one said, his voice also disguised as husky.

"What is your name . . . Dragon's son?"

"You can call me Lucy." It was a name thought up on the fly, and not a very good disguise at that. "Yourself?"

"Sogeking."

Sogeking readied his satchel and Lucy his fists.

"Let's go."

Lucy rushed towards Sogeking and swung a hard punch at his shoulder. Sogeking leaned back, dodging the blow and landing on his hands to kick Lucy's abdomen, earning a cough and a stumble. Lucy recovered quickly and delivered a liver shot with his foot. Sogeking gasped in pain and doubled over. Lucy used this opportunity to elbow Sogeking's neck. He coughed, but recovered quickly—before Lucy knew it, Sogeking was standing and running away.

"Don't be a coward!" he roared, darting after him. As they ran through the streets, Sogeking opened his satchel and rifled through it.

He whipped around, jogging backwards, and aimed his gun at Lucy. With a muffled _BANG_ , a bullet grazed Lucy's arm and he yelled in pain.

But the wound was small and he kept going. He punched Sogeking's jaw, almost cracking the mask. Blood trickled out from Sogeking's hidden mouth.

Sogeking cocked the gun and aimed directly at Lucy's head—

—But he hesitated, and that was all the time Lucy needed to punch Sogeking in the gut again. Sogeking stumbled backwards and tried to aim the gun again when both masked men heard sirens in the distance.

They froze and looked around. The sirens got closer.

"Next week," Sogeking hissed, stowing his gun away. "Same time, same place."

Lucy nodded as the two glared daggers at each other. They mutually parted ways and ran off before the police could find them.

* * *

Kaya looked up as her door burst open. Usopp took off his mask, gasping for air as he slowly shut the door.

"Usopp," she gasped, running over to him. "Are you hurt? What happened?"

"I-I'm fine," Usopp muttered, spitting some blood into his hand. "Dragon's son was tougher than I thought."

"Did he hurt you?" Kaya exclaimed worriedly. "Your mouth—"

"He got a good punch or two in," Usopp mumbled. "I'll have some bruises, but I'll be fine."

Kaya bit her trembling lip. "Usopp . . . please just stay away from him. I hate seeing you get hurt . . ."

Usopp ignored her and straightened up. "I need a shower," he mumbled. "I'll check my wounds in a bit."

He left the room.

* * *

Ace and Sabo looked up at the pounding on their door. They had stayed up, waiting for Luffy, worried sick. Ace stood and ran to the door, flinging it open to find their little brother waiting outside, panting.

"Luffy," Ace exclaimed. He dragged Luffy inside and yanked off his mask. Luffy tried to straighten up and catch his breath.

"Lu, you okay?" Sabo demanded, hurrying over to check him.

"I'm fine," Luffy mumbled.

"You're bleeding," Ace gasped. Blood trickled down Luffy's arm.

"Just a flesh wound," Luffy mumbled. "He tried to shoot me—"

Ace and Sabo gasped.

"That bastard," Ace hissed.

"If I ever see him, I'll kill him myself," Sabo growled.

"I'm going to be the one to kill him," Luffy snapped, holding his arm.

"Luffy, let's get that treated," Ace said. He went to the bathroom and grabbed the first-aid kit. "Any other wounds?"

"Nothing bleeding," Luffy said, wincing as Ace yanked his shirt over his head and began mopping up the blood. "This is just a graze."

"It still looks bad," Ace murmured.

"Luffy, you don't have to go again," Sabo said. "I bet you hurt him way worse than he did you. You've made your point."

"No," Luffy snapped, standing up. Ace rolled his eyes and stood up with him to keep treating the wound. As Luffy winced, he continued, "I've gotta finish this. We're meeting next week."

"Not if I can help it," Ace muttered under his breath, wrapping a bandage over Luffy's wound.


	4. I'm Fine

_The next day_

"Hey, Usopp!"

Usopp grinned when he saw his friend and stepped aside. "Hey, Luffy, come on in!"

Luffy stepped inside and kicked off his sandals. He stretched and winced.

"You sore or something?" Usopp asked.

"Yeah, I . . ." Luffy grinned sheepishly. "Ace wanted me to try an exercise video, and then I tripped and banged up my arm." He gestured to the dry wound under the bandages.

"Oh, that sucks," Usopp said sympathetically as he led Luffy upstairs, wincing.

"Are you sore too?" Luffy asked with a little frown.

"Yeah—uh—I went out for a jog for the first time in forever and pulled something," Usopp said quickly. "It'll go away soon."

"Man, I hate it when stuff like that happens," Luffy sighed as they went into Usopp's room. Usopp had hidden away his mask and outfit from the previous night.

As Usopp took out a deck of cards and began shuffling, Kaya knocked on the door and pushed it open. Her eyes were red like she'd been crying.

"Hi," she said quietly, smiling at Luffy. "You must be Luffy . . . ? I'm Kaya."

Luffy grinned. "Nice to meet you!" He noticed her eyes and frowned. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Kaya murmured. Usopp looked up at her and froze guiltily at the sight of her red eyes. "Usopp, can I talk to you later?"

"Y-Yeah," Usopp said nervously. Kaya quietly left, shutting the door behind her.

"She seemed sad," Luffy remarked, turning back to the cards, which Usopp was still absentmindedly shuffling. "Wow, you're good at that! Whenever I try they fall out of my hands."

Usopp smirked. "It's all in the wrist!" He flicked his wrist to demonstrate and a few cards went flying. "Whoops."

Luffy burst out laughing and reached over to pick up the cards, handing them back to his long-nosed friend.

"Thanks," Usopp mumbled sheepishly. He finished shuffling and dealt the cards—they were playing Go Fish, since the only three card games Luffy knew were that one, Old Maid, and Memory.

"Any 5s?"

"Go fish . . . 3s?"

"Dammit, here you go . . . 5s?"

"You already asked that. Go fish . . ."

* * *

They played a round of Old Maid after the Go Fish game, which Luffy had somehow won. Usopp won the round of Old Maid and they got bored and put the cards away.

Usopp grunted in pain as he leaned over to put the deck back on his bedside table.

"Stomach still hurts," he explained.

"Oh," Luffy said sympathetically. He rubbed his arm and winced. "This _better_ get well soon . . ."

Usopp looked at him curiously.

"Well, I don't like being hurt," Luffy said quickly. "Who does?"

"Masochists?" Usopp suggested.

Luffy nodded. "Oh, right."

* * *

"Hey, Sabo!" Luffy called as he strolled into the dorm. "What's a masochist?"

Sabo was drinking some soda at the time and promptly spat it into Ace's face at Luffy's question. The two of them stared at Luffy, Ace briefly glaring at Sabo.

"Where the hell did you hear that?" Ace demanded.

"Usopp mentioned it," Luffy said casually, sitting down with them. "So what is it?"

"Maybe you shouldn't hang out with him," Sabo muttered, handing Ace some tissues. "He seems like a bad influence."

Luffy stuck out his tongue. "Can't tell me what to do! I _like_ hanging out with Usopp!"

At his insistence, Sabo awkwardly explained what a masochist was.

* * *

 _Sunday_

"Luffy, where are you going?" Sabo asked as casually as possible, eyeing his little brother as he donned his outfit from the previous week.

"I'm going to fight Sogeking," Luffy said.

Ace groaned. "Luffy, _no_. He has a _gun_ , you're gonna get _hurt_ —"

"I was hoping you'd forgotten about that with all the fun you'd been having lately," Sabo said.

"I'll never forget," Luffy said coldly, putting on his mask.

"No way," Ace said, standing. "Luffy, get over here, you're not going _anywhere_ —"

"Don't try to boss me around!" Luffy yelled. Ace flinched and Luffy ran out the door, slamming it behind him.

Ace covered his face as he sank onto his bed.

"He's so— _stupid_ ," Sabo said in frustration, eloquence escaping him for the moment.

Ace's shoulders shook. "I just want him to be safe . . . and happy . . ."

Sabo put his arms around Ace. "I know."

* * *

Usopp donned his fighting outfit, examining himself in the mirror. Somehow he felt more powerful, more _confident_ when he wore these clothes.

Kaya was in her room, resolutely not talking to him. Last week after his and Luffy's card game, she had talked to him. She'd said that there was nothing she could do to stop him going and she _hated_ it and _him_ for it, but would he at least let her treat any injuries he got afterwards? And of course he'd agreed, because he'd never liked seeing Kaya cry.

"Good," he muttered to himself, looking over his outfit in the mirror after he'd put the mask on. He slung his satchel around his shoulder and left his room and the house quietly, feeling a twinge of guilt as he passed by Kaya's room. Her light was still on.

* * *

"Sogeking."

"Lucy."

The two masked men faced each other in the same spot they'd met last time.

Sogeking chuckled. "Let us hope we won't be interrupted like last time."

Lucy nodded. He readied his fists. "Let's go."

They ran at each other. Sogeking dodged Lucy's punch and pulled out a slingshot from his satchel. He fired something at the ground and the air was suddenly filled with smoke.

"A smoke bomb—?" Lucy exclaimed, looking around. Something hard flew into his side from the right and he stumbled, but it was merely a lead pellet.

"Stop playing around, Sogeking!" he yelled.

"I'm not playing around," Sogeking said coldly, _right behind him_. But before Sogeking could do anything, Lucy whipped around and knocked Sogeking's legs out from underneath him, forcing the sniper to the ground. Sogeking rolled away as Lucy attempted to kick him and hopped right back up, taking his slingshot back out. This time he fired strings of _shuriken_ at Lucy, which slashed and stabbed the darkly-dressed masked man. Lucy cursed and brushed them off.

"You think those toys will hurt me?" he demanded, rushing forward and catching Sogeking in the chest with a hard punch. Sogeking coughed as the air was forced out of his lungs and he doubled over.

Suddenly he fell to the ground with his hand on his chest. Red liquid oozed from under his fingers and he lay still.

Lucy hesitated, surprised his attack had done so much damage. But soon he smirked and knelt.

"Let's see what you really look like," he said coolly, reaching for Sogeking's mask.

At the last second, Sogeking leapt up and kicked Lucy hard in the stomach, forcing his rival back.

"You fell for it," he said smugly. "That was ketchup!"

"What kind of stupid trick is that?" Lucy snapped.

"Says the one who _fell_ for the stupid trick," Sogeking taunted. Lucy snarled at him and straightened up to deliver a punch, which Sogeking dodged.

Before Sogeking could do anything else, they heard the telltale sound of sirens approaching, and shoes on the pavement slowly approaching.

"Wednesday, same time, in the pizza place alley," Sogeking hissed. "This place is no good anymore."

Lucy nodded. "And . . . now."

They made a break for it and barreled past the cops, who yelled angrily at them, but of course the masked men did not stop. They split off from each other and continued running until they'd lost the cops far behind them.

* * *

Ace immediately opened the door this time the second he heard a knock. His little brother trudged in, pulling off his mask and sweater to reveal the small cuts on his body.

"Luffy, not again," Sabo moaned, hurrying over to check on him. "He didn't shoot you, that bastard?"

"No, these are from throwing stars," Luffy said, wincing as he put a hand on his chest. "He got a good kick in, but the police showed up and it was a draw again."

Ace hugged Luffy tightly.

"What?" Luffy asked, startled.

"I'm glad you're okay," Ace mumbled. He withdrew and looked Luffy up and down. "Okay . . . these don't look too bad. Let's get you cleaned up."

* * *

Usopp, back in his room, took off his mask and breathed out shakily. There was a knock on his door and Kaya said softly, "Usopp?"

"C'mon in," he mumbled. Kaya pushed open the door and looked him up and down.

"I'm fine," he said. "Definitely gonna have a bruise, but I'm fine."

"Where?" Kaya asked quietly.

He gestured to the side of his chest. "Lucy got a punch in. He's pretty strong."

Kaya brushed her hand over the spot gently. "I want to take a look tomorrow. Your ribs are fine?"

Usopp felt over his chest. "Yeah . . . yeah, nothing's broken."

Kaya suddenly hugged him.

"Kaya—?"

"I hate this," she mumbled.

Usopp sighed and hugged her back gently, still sore from the fight (though he didn't mention this). "I know."


	5. Don't Worry about Me

_Wednesday_

Luffy strolled into the pizza parlor and spotted Usopp sitting at a table by the window. His friend was staring outside with a very serious, thoughtful expression.

"Hey," Luffy said cheerfully, sliding into the seat opposite him. Usopp glanced up and grinned.

"What're you lookin' at?" Luffy asked, glancing outside at the alley curiously. He frowned slightly, for this was the place he would meet with Sogeking that very night.

"It's nothing," Usopp said quickly. "I'm starving, let's order something . . ."

After a bit of arguing, they settled on a half meat and half cheese pizza. The blond waiter took their order.

Usopp frowned when he noticed the sores on Luffy's arms. "What happened there? You okay?"

Luffy brushed his hands over the still-healing wounds and winced. "Well, see," he said, rifling frantically through excuse after excuse in his mind before coming up with something plausible, "Ace and Sabo and I were on a walk in the woods and I fell down a hill right into a bramble patch."

"Ouch," Usopp said, wincing sympathetically. "That's gotta hurt!"

Luffy nodded. "I'll be fine."

"You seem kinda clumsy, to get into accidents like that," Usopp said with a laugh.

Luffy nervously laughed along. "Yeah."

Usopp stretched, but then winced and felt his chest lightly.

"Are _you_ okay?" Luffy asked, not failing to notice this.

Usopp shrugged. "Chest hurts a bit. I—I tripped. Fell chest-first into a desk."

Luffy laughed. "And you call _me_ clumsy!"

Usopp scowled, but he was only able to hold it for a moment before joining in the laughter.

The blond waiter brought them their pizza and they dug in.

"So yesterday I saw a guy with green hair in the dorm building," Luffy said as he chomped down on his first slice. "I guess he goes to the U with Ace and Sabo."

Usopp frowned as he swallowed. "Green hair?"

"Yeah," Luffy said, nodding for emphasis. "He looked so cool, and kinda grouchy. I asked him why he dyed his hair green and he said he was born with that color!"

Usopp almost spit out his pizza with his laughter. "No way!"

"Well, I dunno if he was telling the truth, but he seemed like an honest guy," Luffy said, finishing off his first slice (to the amazement of Usopp, who'd never seen anyone eat so quickly). "Anyway, I was so surprised I started laughing, and I guess he got mad 'cause then he just walked away."

"You didn't even get his name? Man, that's too bad," Usopp sighed. "Speaking of weirdoes, though . . ." he glanced towards the kitchen and lowered his voice. "Did you notice that waiter had a spiral eyebrow?"

Luffy nodded, trying to keep his laughter contained as he still had a mouth full of food. "I didn't want to say anything, but . . ."

"I wonder what his other eyebrow looks like," Usopp whispered, casting a glance back to the kitchen.

Luffy shrugged. "It's a mystery," he said solemnly.

"I can hear you," their waiter muttered as he strode past their table. They froze and looked at him guiltily, but he didn't even look back as he went to take someone else's order.

"So hey, there's a jazz concert we could go to after this," Usopp suggested. "The pianist is called 'Skin-n-Bones Brook!'"

Luffy frowned as he finished off his second slice. "Why do they call him that?"

"Apparently he's really skinny, like a skeleton," Usopp explained as he slowly started on his second slice. Luffy nodded in understanding.

* * *

"I'm going out now," Luffy said as he put on his mask. He turned to the door only to find Ace and Sabo blocking it.

"What?" He asked, frowning.

"Lu, we don't want you to get hurt," Sabo said firmly.

His little brother scowled. "Do I have to beat you two up to get out?" he demanded angrily.

"You think you can overpower both of us?" Ace scoffed. "Luffy, you're not leaving this room."

Luffy slowly backed up toward the window as if preparing to charge. "You guys better move, or you'll be knocked down with the door," he said.

Ace and Sabo stood their ground.

"Three . . ." Luffy said slowly, trying to keep them distracted by focusing on the door while his fingers worked on the window latch behind him.

"Two . . ." he quietly unlocked the window and bent his knees.

"One."

He flung open the pane and hopped backwards outside. Ace and Sabo cried out in shock.

"This is the _second floor_! What is he thinking?!" Ace cried.

"Goddammit—Luffy!" Sabo yelled, running forward. He and Ace looked out and down. Luffy was sliding down the side of the dorm building, slowing himself down with the wall. When he was close to the ground, he hopped into the bushes, jumped out, and ran off, to where neither of his brothers knew.

Ace stumbled backwards and sat down hard on his bed.

"That idiot," Sabo hissed. "He could die!"

Ace stared despondently at the wall.

* * *

Lucy and Sogeking faced off in the alley next to the pizza parlor. Neither knew the other had been there only hours before.

Without a word, Sogeking rushed forward and caught Lucy by surprise with a punch to the gut. Lucy coughed, but quickly retaliated with a roundhouse kick—

But then they heard police sirens, and the flashing lights lit up the alley—

"Not again!" Lucy hissed. "How did they get here so quickly?!"

"How would I know?" Sogeking snapped.

A megaphone crackled and blared, "COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP."

"Like hell," Lucy sneered.

Sogeking was about to speak when Lucy whipped around. " _I'll_ pick the time and place this time."

Sogeking decided to grant his enemy this one favor. After Lucy had decided, they ran outside, barreling past the cop car and splitting up.

"STOP," the megaphone blared, but neither halted their course, instead weaving around the street, cutting through some alleys.

Eventually they lost the police.

* * *

"Are you hurt?" Ace demanded the second Luffy ran through the door, slamming it behind him and yanking his mask off.

"I'm fine," Luffy muttered.

"You're back early," Sabo noted after eyeing Luffy up and down.

"The stupid cops showed up," Luffy grumbled, changing out of his suit. "We'd barely started."

"Good," Ace said sharply. "You are in _so_ much trouble, Luffy."

Luffy glanced up and frowned. "You're not the boss of me."

"Oh yes I am," Ace snapped. "You're not allowed to hang out with Usopp for a week, and see if we can't stop you from going to your next fight!"

Luffy's mouth dropped open. "No fair!"

"That's more than fair," Sabo said, crossing his arms. "You're lucky we don't bar you from seeing Usopp ever again, or permanently rope you to the bedpost!"

Luffy scowled heavily as Ace and Sabo checked him over once more for bruises or cuts.

* * *

Kaya hurried into Usopp's room as he changed out of his outfit.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine," Usopp mumbled. "The cops showed up just as we got started."

Kaya breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness they did."

Usopp glared at her and she flinched. His gaze softened and he sighed.

"I'll be fine, Kaya," he said quietly. "Don't worry about me."


	6. I'll Stay Here

_Thursday_

The phone rang and Luffy opened his eyes, woken from his nap. He was in the dorm room since he was under house arrest for yesterday's transgression, and despite his grumblings, he'd decided to listen to his older brothers just this once—even though he didn't think he needed protection or anyone fussing over him, he still disliked making them worry.

He yawned, got up, shuffled to the phone, and picked it up with a sleepy, "Yo."

"Is that how you answer a phone?"

Luffy blinked and grinned. "Usopp?"

"Yeah. But seriously, is that how you answer a phone?"

"I'm tired."

". . . Okay. Listen, you wanna hang out later? We can toss the pigskin around at the park! It's a beautiful day!"

Luffy sighed. "Man, that sounds like fun, but I'm being grounded . . . not allowed to hang out with anyone right now."

"What? Grounded? What for?"

Luffy hesitated. "I kinda . . . well . . ."

Before he could fumble an excuse, Usopp said, "Never mind, you don't have to tell if you don't wanna. That's too bad. You're just staying in the dorm?"

"Yeah. There's not a lot to do."

There was a knock at the door.

"Hold on a sec."

Luffy got up and opened the door to find the green-haired man he'd seen the other day standing outside, blinking as if he'd just woken up.

". . . What're you doing in my dorm?" he asked, scowling.

Luffy stared at him. "This one belongs to me and my brothers. What are _you_ doing here?"

"No, this one's mine—" he leaned in and looked around. "Oh."

Luffy grinned. "See?"

The green-haired man grunted an apology and went on his way. Luffy shrugged and shut the door.

"Hey," he said to Usopp, picking up the phone again. "That green-haired guy from the other day was at the door. He thought this was his room for some reason."

Usopp snickered. "How dumb do you have to be to get your room mixed up like that?"

"Oh, I forgot to get his name," Luffy said. "Oh well. Yeah, he doesn't seem too smart."

"Maybe his green hair is actually moss and it's absorbing his brain!" Usopp said dramatically.

Luffy gasped and laughed. "You think so?"

"Ah, yes, I remember when I was a child," Usopp said, beginning to spin a tale, "and I saw the aliens come to Earth! I easily defeated their leader and they high-tailed it back home, but they left behind moss seeds! This moss could suck out your brain and it's been attacking the Earth ever since!"

"How can we defeat the evil moss?" Luffy exclaimed, sitting against the dresser.

"The moss's only weakness is . . ."

* * *

When Ace and Sabo returned, Luffy was still talking to Usopp.

"Did we say anything about not letting him talk on the phone?" Ace muttered, glancing at Sabo.

Sabo sighed. "Let him have this."

* * *

 _Friday_

"Let me GO!"

"No."

Luffy struggled to get out from under Ace, who was sitting on him and refused to get up.

"I have a fight to go to!" he yelled. "He's gonna think I'm a coward if I don't show up!"

"We'd rather you be a coward than dead!" Sabo exclaimed angrily. "Ace, do we have any rope?"

"LET GO!"

Working together, Ace and Sabo tied Luffy's wrists to the bedpost tightly. Their little brother struggled to no avail.

"You're staying here," Ace said angrily, turning to lock the door. "I don't care what plans you have. We're not letting you risk your life again."

"Besides, haven't the police shown up to your fights every other time?" Sabo pointed out. "What's to say they won't come this time?"

Luffy hesitated. He had a point, of course, not that Luffy would admit it.

"I wish we had thought of that," Ace murmured. "Calling the cops right away would have put an end to these things sooner."

"Obviously _someone_ cares," Sabo said. "And do you really want to have to pay bail?"

Luffy looked up. "You . . . would pay it, right?"

Ace sighed. "Frankly I'd be tempted to leave you there for being stupid. But . . . of course we would, Lu."

"I've seen the inside of a jail cell," Sabo said. "It's not pretty."

". . . I'll stay here."

Ace and Sabo looked at Luffy.

"I won't go," he said quietly, looking at them. "I'll stay here tonight. I promise."

His brothers glanced at each other uncertainly.

"So . . . can you please untie me?"

"No," Ace said flatly.

"Why?" Luffy exclaimed. "I promise I won't run! Don't you trust me?"

Sabo bit his lip and turned away. "I'd love to trust you, but right now I'm not sure I can. You're staying tied up."

Luffy stared at him and slumped against the bed.

"I really wasn't gonna run," he mumbled.

* * *

"Please don't go."

Usopp looked at Kaya in annoyance. She was sitting on his bed and staring at him.

"Usopp . . . please . . . stay here."

"If I don't go, I'll be branded a coward," Usopp muttered. "And I guess I am kind of a coward, but I don't want to let my enemy know that."

"And if you _do_ go, the cops will show up again."

"I don't know that for sure."

"I do."

Usopp looked at Kaya. "What?"

"The cops _are_ going to show up, because . . ." she hesitated, and then plowed on. "I'm the one who's been calling them."

Usopp froze.

"What?" He whispered, staring at her.

"I didn't want you to get hurt," she said, their eyes locked. "I've been calling the cops anonymously and sending them to wherever you're fighting that night. And it's a good thing, too, because you could have been hurt even worse or _killed_ if they hadn't come to break it up."

Usopp stepped towards her, his face twisted in anger, and he raised his hand—Kaya flinched and shut her eyes—

But when nothing came, she slowly opened them and looked at Usopp. He'd used his hand to pull off his cape and throw his bag aside.

"I won't go."

Kaya watched him nervously.

"I won't go," Usopp said, refusing to look at her any longer. "I'll stay home tonight. Get out of my room."

"Thank you," she whispered. She stood and tried to hug him, but he moved away and she quickly hurried out.

He sat on the edge of his bed and put his head in his hands.


	7. I Win

_Seven days later_

Luffy had been ungrounded that morning, to his delight. Ace and Sabo finally let him out of the room to hang out with Usopp.

Later that evening, the two strolled to their room, carrying food.

"Hey, Lu!" Ace said, knocking on the door and pushing it open. "We got fried chicken for dinner!"

He came in and looked around. "Luffy?"

"Is he still hanging with Usopp?" Sabo muttered. He came in and spotted a note on Ace's bed.

Picking it up, he read aloud, " _I'm spending the night at Usopp's house. I'll call later._ "

"Could've let us known before we got this chicken," Ace muttered, sitting down and taking out a drumstick. "Think we should save some for him for breakfast?"

"Who has fried chicken for breakfast?" Sabo asked, sitting next to him and pulling out a piece.

"Hey, this is America, bro. Land of freedom and opportunity."

"Pretty sure the founding fathers weren't thinking of breakfast menus when they wrote the Bill of Rights."

"Pretty sure I don't care. Cola?"

"Sure."

* * *

Luffy had been waiting outside undercover with his "Lucy" outfit for a very long time, patiently waiting for nighttime. He felt bad about lying to his brothers, and they would surely figure it out later, but by this time he had grown impatient with his fights, especially with missing the last one. He was ready to end it.

When the sunset began, Luffy quickly changed into his outfit.

And when the sun fully disappeared beneath the horizon, he snapped on his mask and went out into the night.

"SOGEKING!"

Of course, he reflected as he walked the streets, he was banking on a streak of hope that his nemesis would be out that night. They hadn't been in contact since their last fight.

* * *

"Usopp . . . ?"

Kaya pushed his door open to find the room empty and a note on the bed. She checked underneath the bed to find that Usopp's "Sogeking" outfit was gone, along with his bag and the gun.

She looked at the note.

 _I'm sorry. I'll be okay. Please don't wait up. I'll find a pay phone and call you later._

She sat on his bed and began to sob.

* * *

"COME OUT, LUCY!"

Sogeking prowled the streets, knowing that there was only a small chance Lucy would be out that very night. He had hoped their thinking was the same; that waiting a week since their last failed meeting was the best course of action.

* * *

"SOGEKING!"

"LUCY!"

The masked men froze at the sound of their names being called.

"SOGEKING!"

Sogeking slowly followed the sound of his enemy's voice.

"LUCY!"

Lucy ran forward and cut through an alley, tripping over a garbage can and quickly picking himself back up.

"SOGEKING!"

"LU—!"

They froze at the sight of each other.

"So we did have the same thoughts after all," Sogeking said in his disguised voice.

Lucy nodded. "I want this to be our last fight."

"I was thinking the same."

"I don't care what you think. Let's go."

They rushed forward.

* * *

"Shouldn't he have called by now?" Ace muttered, running a hand through his hair distractedly.

"Ace."

Sabo looked at his brother, his face white. "His fighting ensemble's not here."

"Oh, _shit_ ," Ace cursed. "Oh, shit, Luffy . . ."

"Maybe—maybe he just took it to Usopp's?" Sabo said hopefully. "I'll call their place."

He strode to the phone and dialed the number scribbled on a piece of paper by it.

"Come on," he muttered as it rang once, twice, thrice . . .

Someone picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey, sorry to bother you—this is Luffy's brother—"

"Excuse me?" said a male voice.

"Klahadore, I got it, you can hang up," the female voice said. There was a _click_.

"Er—listen, is Luffy there? We need to talk to him," Sabo said hurriedly. "Kaya, was it?"

"Yes," Kaya said. "I'm sorry, Luffy's not here . . . why do you ask?"

"Damn it," Sabo hissed. "He told us he was staying with Usopp tonight."

"Usopp's . . . gone out."

"Thanks for your help, sorry to bother you," Sabo said quickly. He hung up the phone and turned to Ace bleakly.

"That stupid kid," Ace groaned.

* * *

"Where did you go?! Come back here, you coward!"

Lucy looked around. He and Sogeking had traded blows before Sogeking had thrown down a smoke bomb and bolted. He'd lost his enemy in the streets.

"You're letting your father down, running away like that!" he yelled.

Suddenly a pellet grazed his cheek. He winced and looked up to see Sogeking firing his slingshot at him from the fire escape of an apartment building.

"No one calls me coward except myself!" Sogeking yelled. He fired again and Lucy darted up the stairs, Sogeking hurrying to the upper levels.

"Fight for _real_ , damn it!" Lucy yelled angrily. A pellet struck him in the chest, but he kept going.

They reached the roof.

Lucy rushed for Sogeking and punched him hard in the gut, kicking him for good measure. Sogeking doubled over and pulled out his gun, firing a clean shot at Lucy. Lucy gave a strangled gasp as the bullet pierced his stomach, leaving a bloody hole in his outfit. Sogeking fired two more in quick succession, catching Lucy in the gut both times. Blood trickled from the man's mouth and it looked like he was about to fall when he suddenly growled in rage and pounced on Sogeking. He knocked his proud gun away, letting it skitter a few feet away, and seized his firing arm with both hands. He bent the elbow _hard_ the wrong way, and Sogeking screamed in pain as a sickening _CRACK_ came with the suddenly broken bones.

Sogeking reached out and seized his gun in a moment of clarity and aimed it at Lucy's head. He fired and the bullet hit his enemy, but his aim was shaky now and the bullet lodged in Lucy's shoulder instead. Lucy cried out in pain.

Lucy slammed his foot down onto Sogeking's chest, forcing his nemesis to the ground. He then stomped hard on Sogeking's face, cracking his mask almost to the breaking point; blood trickled out from the back of Sogeking's head and his arm began to show ugly bruising. Desperately Sogeking kicked Lucy in his stomach, still filled with bullets, and Lucy screamed in pain, but was not deterred from seizing Sogeking by his broken arm and throwing him to the edge of the roof, where his front half dangled off the roof facing the sky.

Lucy moved forward and weakly grabbed Sogeking by his shoulders, threatening to shove his enemy off at any moment.

"I win."

Sogeking nodded slowly, knowing he was defeated.

"Any last words?" Lucy demanded, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

"Y-Yeah . . ." Sogeking whispered. "Listen . . . I . . . have a few people . . . I wanted to say bye to . . ."

Lucy nodded. "You fought well," he said, wincing as another flood of pain pulsed through his abdomen. "I'll tell them—" he winced. "Goodbye."

"Okay . . ." Sogeking whispered. "If you . . . can find her . . . she's a real sweet girl . . . always cared for me . . . like a brother . . . her name's . . . Kaya."

Lucy froze.

"She . . ." Sogeking winced under his mask. "I . . . wanted to tell her . . . sorry. And . . . she . . . was right."

"Her . . . name's Kaya?" Lucy said. No, no, it had to be a coincidence . . .

"Yeah," Sogeking whispered. "And . . . one more . . ." he gulped. "This guy . . . I only met him . . . a few weeks ago . . . but . . . he's my best . . . friend . . ."

He struggled to hold up his head. "His name's . . . Luffy."

Lucy stared at Sogeking.

"No, no, it—it can't be," he whispered. He reached forward with his good arm and pulled off Sogeking's mask, the strings snapping in the back.

And there was Usopp, his face bloody, openly crying, and one eye beginning to bruise.

"What . . . are you . . . waiting for . . . Lucy?" he said coldly when his nemesis continued to stare at him. "Kill me."

"Usopp . . ."

Usopp froze. "You . . . you know . . . my name . . . ?"

Lucy frantically ripped off his own mask and cast both aside, Sogeking's shattering at last. And Luffy looked into the face of his enemy, his _friend_ , as he held his life in his hands.

They stared at each other in utter shock. Luffy pulled Usopp away from the edge of the roof and laid him gently on the ground. Usopp sat up, pushing himself with his good arm, and they just stared.

"Usopp . . ." Luffy said. "You're . . . your arm's broken."

Usopp looked at his twisted arm. "Yeah . . ." he murmured. "Luffy . . . you've . . . been shot . . ."

They both sounded dazed, as if they'd woken up from a very long dream.

"We . . ." Usopp said, his vision blurring from the pain. "We should . . . treat . . . those . . ."

"Your arm . . . needs fixing," Luffy said. He coughed, bringing up an alarming amount of blood. He kept coughing, bringing up more and more blood, until he and Usopp finally passed out from exhaustion and pain.

* * *

"I can't stand this," Ace said. "We're going out to look for him."

Sabo nodded. Ace went to the phone and quickly dialed that number.

"Ms. Kaya?" he said when the phone was picked up. "I'm really sorry to bother you again, but Sabo and I are going out to find Luffy, and—"

"I'm coming with you."

"What?"

"I want to look for Usopp, too. I'm sick and tired of this."

Ace frowned. "Okay. You can explain on the way. Meet in front of the theater?"

"I'll be there in ten."

* * *

Ace and Sabo met up with Kaya in front of the theater as promised.

"So what's the deal with Usopp?" Ace asked.

Kaya bit her lip angrily. "He's been dressing in a ridiculous hero's getup and going out to get vengeance for his father's death. I know it sounds crazy, but it's happening, and he has a _gun_ , and I just know he's going to be hurt—"

"What?" Sabo whispered, stopping suddenly with Ace. Kaya looked back at them.

"Luffy's been . . . doing exactly the same thing," Ace said bleakly. "He came home with gunshot wounds one night . . . you don't think . . . ?"

"Can't be," Sabo said, trying to convince himself. "Can't be . . . they're best friends . . . !"

"But they're both wearing masks," Ace murmured. "They're both wearing masks . . . Luffy was never a bright kid . . ."

"We'll know when we find them," Kaya said, turning away and trying to hide her expression.

* * *

At last they came upon something odd: Two figures on the edge of a roof, impossible to make out at that distance. One was holding the other, but as they watched, the other was pulled away and they disappeared from sight.

Without a word the trio ran up the fire escape of the building and made it to the roof, Sabo helping Kaya up.

"LUFFY!"

They stared in shock. Two prone figures lay on the roof, two masks beside them. It was Luffy and Usopp. Luffy was next to a pile of blood and still bleeding from his arm, stomach, and mouth, while Usopp's arm was bent at a strange angle and his face was a bit messed up.

"USOPP!" Kaya cried. She ran forward and, sobbing openly, took Usopp's head into her lap. "Usopp, please wake up, please!"

Usopp's eyes fluttered briefly before closing again.

"Damn it, _Luffy_!" Ace yelled, checking over his brother with Sabo. "He's been shot!"

"I'm so sorry!" Kaya cried. "I'm so sorry!"

"Now's not the time to apologize!" Ace yelled. "Sabo, run, find a pay phone, and call a damn ambulance!"


	8. Friends

"Luffy . . . ?"

Luffy blinked slowly and turned his head, wincing. He vaguely realized he was in the hospital and his brothers were at his bedside. His head felt fuzzy through the drugs and a nasal cannula was wrapped around his face.

"Ace . . ." he said groggily. "Sabo . . ."

Sabo bowed his head in relief and Ace brushed back strands of Luffy's hair from his forehead. "Lu," he said softly, "good to see you awake."

Luffy frowned. "What . . ."

"You had surgery for your wounds," Sabo said slowly and clearly. "You've been sleeping for about a week."

"How do you feel?" Ace asked.

Luffy blinked slowly. ". . . Sleepy . . . fuzzy . . . ?"

"Do you want to sleep?" Sabo asked gently.

Luffy stared off into space and looked concerned. "Usopp . . ."

Ace and Sabo glanced at each other.

"Where . . . ?"

"He's in the hospital too," Ace said slowly. "His arm's in a cast and the doctors fixed his face."

"Need . . . to—" Luffy's breathing became faster and shallower. "Talk—him—Usopp—"

He started thrashing about in bed. Ace and Sabo quickly pinned him down and Ace pressed the call button. A moment later, Luffy's doctor, a young man who went by the nickname Dr. Chopper, came along and sedated Luffy. As Luffy slipped off again, he calmed down, and his brothers let go of him.

* * *

Usopp was quietly talking with Kaya when Ace and Sabo came in and sat next to his bed. The two went quiet and waited.

"He woke up," Sabo said abruptly.

"Oh," Usopp said. His eyes filled with tears. "Oh . . . oh, thank god."

"Thank god," Kaya repeated, smiling.

"He kind of flipped out and started talking about wanting to see you," Ace said to Usopp. "Dr. Chopper had to sedate him again."

"We'll tell him the police story when he's properly awake," Sabo added. The police had questioned Ace, Sabo, Kaya, and Usopp. The first three had claimed to be looking for Luffy and Usopp when they heard a commotion on the roof. They'd lied and said that someone with a gun had been running away when they got up to the roof, and they'd found Usopp and Luffy like that.

Usopp had simply faked amnesia. He'd said he'd been going to meet Luffy and everything after that was a blank.

"He wants . . . to see me?" Usopp said disbelievingly. "But . . . he must hate me."

"Do _you_ hate _him_?" Kaya asked.

Usopp stared at the wall. "I . . . I dunno what to think anymore. I've spent ten years obsessing over revenge . . . but it's _Luffy_."

He sighed. "It . . . it feels wrong . . ."

"Get some rest," Sabo said, standing. "Ace, let's get back to the dorm. We'll come back tomorrow, yeah?"

"Yeah," Ace said distractedly. They stood and left the hospital.

Kaya and Usopp were quiet. When Usopp had woken up, Kaya had first sobbed and expressed relief that he was alive. She'd then called him an idiot and how could he shoot his best friend like that, was he too stupid to notice? Were they both too stupid to notice? And Usopp had hugged her with his good arm and said she'd been right along, and there was nothing he could possibly do to make it up to her and no amount of apologies could fix what had happened, but maybe she could forgive him?

* * *

When Luffy next awoke, his head was clearer and there was a dull, throbbing pain in his abdomen. He winced.

Then he glanced around and saw Usopp sitting by his bed, staring at him with a pained expression. For a moment neither of them said anything.

"Ten years . . ."

Luffy stared up at the ceiling. "Ten years . . . waiting for revenge . . ." he gulped. "But . . . I never wanted _this_ . . . I never . . . wanted to hurt you . . ."

He looked at Usopp as he began to cry. "What the hell have we been doing . . . for ten years?"

Usopp's face screwed up. "Being idiots. You . . . Luffy, you . . . you didn't have anything to do . . . with my dad's death."

Luffy nodded. "And you . . . you didn't do anything to cause . . . my dad dying."

Usopp burst into tears. "Damn it . . . Luffy, I'm so glad you're okay—can't believe I _shot_ you—"

"I broke your arm and hurt your face," Luffy said, crying harder now. "Two for two, right . . . ?"

"Let's," Usopp hiccupped, "let's bury the hatchet. Friends?"

He stuck out his good arm and Luffy weakly reached up and shook it with the one without the shoulder wound, wincing.

"When do you think we'll be out?" Luffy asked, trying to blink back more tears.

"I'm out in a couple days," Usopp admitted. "But you had to have surgery, so you'll probably be in here a while longer."

Luffy sighed.

"Luffy?"

"Mm?"

Before Usopp could say anything, Dr. Chopper came by, saw that Luffy was awake, and after finding out his wounds were still hurting, insisted that the patient needed more rest. He set up an I.V. and left.

"Hasn't kicked in yet," Luffy said. "What's up?"

"After—after you're out, let's go visit their graves," Usopp said. "With . . . with Kaya and your brothers."

Luffy nodded. "Haven't been there in forever. I bet Ace and Sabo would wanna go too." He frowned. "I dunno if they'll ever trust me again after this . . ."

"I dunno if Kaya will ever forgive me," Usopp said. "I deserve it, though."

Luffy nodded in understanding and suddenly relaxed, blinking slowly. "Whoa . . . there it is . . ."

Usopp started to get up, but Luffy said groggily, "Stay . . . here . . . Uso . . ."

His eyes slipped shut and he drifted off. Usopp sat back down.

A few minutes later, Ace and Sabo came in. They stopped short when they saw Usopp.

"Hi," Usopp said quietly. "He only just went to sleep."

"How was he?" Ace asked as they sat down.

"Recovering," Usopp said. "We settled the matter between ourselves."

"Good," Sabo said darkly. "I've been meaning to say, Usopp . . ."

Usopp looked up.

"If you ever harm a hair on Lu's head again, we'll be the ones coming after you." He smiled. "Got it?"

Usopp nodded. "Yeah. Of course. Yes. Understood."

"And I think Kaya was saying something about breaking Luffy's own arm if he ever hurt you again," Ace murmured.

Usopp paled. "I didn't know she could be so scary."

* * *

 _Two weeks later_

Luffy had been released, and even though he'd been assigned bedrest, Ace and Sabo helped him walk to the cemetery.

"Hey!"

The three looked up and waved at Usopp and Kaya, who were waiting at the wrought iron gates.

"Hey," Luffy said, grinning sleepily. "Let's go, then?"

The five went into the cemetery and down the rows. The first grave was Yasopp's.

Luffy and Usopp sat in front of it for a bit. Luffy glanced over and saw that Usopp had tears in his eyes.

"Your dad was a good guy, huh?"

Usopp nodded. "He was real brave . . . and he was a great storyteller . . ."

Luffy smiled. "You must get it from him."

After a while they got up and left. They found Dragon's grave soon enough.

Luffy bit his lip. Ace patted his back gently.

"What was he like?" Usopp asked.

"He was really serious and stern, but then suddenly he'd get all goofy and fun," Luffy said, grinning with tears in his eyes. "He was the best."

"He took me in when my parents were killed in a car crash," Ace said softly. "I was only three."

And they fell silent for a good while longer.

* * *

 _Three days later_

"Can I go hang out with Usopp?"

"No."

Luffy frowned. "But I'm bored."

"You're supposed to be resting. Besides . . ." Ace scowled at him. "Who says we can believe what you say?"

Luffy looked crestfallen. Ace looked away and sighed. "Don't strain yourself. We're going to class now."

He and Sabo left. Luffy fell back onto bed, wincing.

A while later there was a knock on the door.

"C'mon in," Luffy said listlessly.

The door was pushed open and Luffy brightened.

"Usopp!"

"Hey," Usopp said, grinning. His arm was still in a cast, of course. "How're you holding up?"

"Stomach hurts, but I'm okay," Luffy said. "How're you?"

"My arm aches a lot, and there's this itchy spot under the cast," Usopp grumbled. "Anyway . . . I brought some cards. Wanna play a game?"

"Yeah," Luffy said. He rolled off the bed and they started a game.

* * *

~Fin~

* * *

 **Story's done! Thanks for your support, everyone!**


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